Sunday, May 31, 2009

I have had the great privilege of getting to know many amazing families. One of those families calls on me whenever they have something special going on (love that!). This time it was their daughter's 16th birthday party. Kelsey is a super fun, outgoing, talented, adorable girl. She new she wanted a red velvet cake. Her mom said to maybe incorporate a car or something since it was her 16th bday. I had the idea of making a VW bug car cake, with flowers and fun colors. Cute, right? Then here mom emailed a few days later and said that the party was going to be a Luau and could I incorporate that into the cake's theme. "No problem!" I said. Problem, I thought. But it really gave me another opportunity to shake up what I was going to do and hopefully make it better. OH yeah, they wanted 4 dozen decorated sugar cookies to go with it all. (Are they not a baker's dream family?!!)

I knew Kelsey loved pink and other bright colors and I knew that the number of guests to the party had increased. Why couldn't I still do the car part of the cake and add a little luau feel to it. A grass skirt and some flowers for one layer, with a car cake on top! Ding, the lightbulb went off!

Well, after making the car a bit bigger than I thought, it became clear that it would be best supported on a square or rectangle cake. So, the grass skirt wasn't round, ahhh, I still think it worked. What do you think?

Since I love to personalize things, I added a black belt as Kelsey is a black belt (her family owns USA Karate) and the license plate.

And the cookies! How much of a sweets freak am I that I actually fell in love with the pineapple cookies. I think my family was sick of me talking about how darn cute they turned out. Hey! These things make me happy. I am a simple girl. Okay, don't ask my husband if that is really true.

My girls liked the flip flops best. The styles were inspired by their collection!

Gotta have a few palm trees at a Luau!

And hibiscus flowers everywhere!

Thank you, thank you to the lovely Lewis family for letting me share in another family event. I knew it was a hit when about two weeks after the party I ran into Kelsey at Angelina's Kitchen. When she saw me she started shrieking and gave me a huge hug. She then said " OMG you totally rock! Me and all of my friends thought the cake was the most awesome thing EVER!"

Monday, May 25, 2009

I am a little tardy in sharing this with all of you, but I have been baking out of a take out restaurant right here in Woodbury. Angelina's Kitchen is owned and run by Angela V. and her hubbie. She offers the most wonderful meals that you can take home and eat or call ahead and they will have it all ready for you, you just need a couple of forks and wala! A delicious, healthy, all natural, incredibly reasonable priced meal for your lovely family! I have been a customer of theirs since they opened three years ago. Let me tell you, my kids eat her food and they don't even realize all the veggies and good stuff they are eating. Perfect, right?

I'll make a long story short. Angela had heard that I was baking and asked me to come in and chat about what I was doing. Well, I went in fully loaded. Red velvet cupcakes, chocolate brownie torte, oatmeal cookies, lemon bread- you get the idea. The next thing I know, Angela is placing an order and looking on her schedule to work me in to use her kitchen to do my baking! Seriously?! Could that be any more amazing?!

Turns out it has been a great addition to my business. The days I am working out of her kitchen are days I look so forward to. She has such a great, warm and helpful staff and her customers have been loving my sweets.

We share the same philosophy on making things homemade, from scratch with quality ingredients. I always say that she takes care of the savory side and I take care of the sweet side. So, if you are a local and you haven't tried out Angelina's Kitchen...turn of the computer and head over there right now! You will thank me for it later.

And pick up a piece of my carrot cake while your there, I just made it.

It has been too long since I posted and I have so much to share. First of all, I am so grateful for not just the business that has come my way, but the wonderful people I have met and have had the privilege to work with on this crazy journey. It is truly so rewarding to see the kindness and generosity in people. Sometimes I think we are all moving so fast with all of our commitments and responsibilities that we forget to relish in what makes us truly happy. It is so great to me when I see a new smile or hear an amazing compliment. I think it has made me realize how special something so small can be.

I know , I know- that's why my dad calls me "Sappy Sue" at times.

Okay onto a fun one. My Livi loves to help in the kitchen, she's not bad at blogging either! She decided to play around with some fondant scraps one day. I just thought it was very creative and so cute. She even took the picture, kinda artsy don't ya think? Now if she could just help me out everyday, I may get some sleep!

Monday, May 11, 2009

One of my first, and very loyal, customers called to order some cookies for a baby shower. Ann had purchased some decorated Easter cookies previously. She admitted to me that she bought them for "the kids", with no real intention on eating any. But she decided to taste one. Her parents were in town and decided to taste them as well. Apparently, "the kids" never really got much after the adults tasted the cookies. Another thing I love! My sweets just aren't for kids or just for adults. Hopefully everyone will love to hoard them from each other!

Ann was giving a baby shower with her mom, out of town. She called to order, saying they would need about 2 dozen, but she would like 3- just to make sure they had enough for them to snack on while preparing for the shower. Oh, a woman after my own heart.

So these cute little teddy bears and baby bottles were packed up and sent off with her to the shower. She sent me the picture below from the shower with a big" Thank you!"

Funny, doesn't look like all 3 dozen made it to the plate. Good job Ann, keep those priorities in order :)

These cupcakes were for Will, who was turning 13. He had just made the LaCrosse team. His mom said he just wanted really tasty cupcakes, nothing fancy. Hmm, how to control myself!

I found some little helmet quins (the candy shapes on top) and picked out all the blue ones. Then I melted chocolate and tried (key word "tried") to make LaCrosse sticks. I threw in a W and 13.

This is how they came out. I think they were simple, but still had a little personality. The family said the thoroughly enjoyed the cupcakes, which is always my goal. I want people to love to look my sweets, but then love to eat them. Over and over- heehee.